Breakdown
by FluffleNeCharka
Summary: Tony's arc reactor is failing. A dangerous new enemy is threatening the world. And Iron Man can't afford to stop for anything. As it all falls apart, somehow, people come together. Pepperony, rated for violence and death.
1. Gift

**Author's Note:** Forgive me, internet; I'm writing a common pairing. And it's a het one, which is unusual for me because I usually like the most dysfunctional pairing humanly possible and gayngst makes any story better. But in a spirit of annoyance sublime darkness, I find myself wanting to put the movie's plot into IMAA verse, and that means Pepperony. So forgive me if there's some awkwardness in my first attempts to write this pairing, as I'm a bit new to pairings that aren't horrifically dysfunctional. Also, Pepper being alarmed at the end of the chapter over a rather mundane thing has logic behind it; very rambling, disjointed Pepper-logic that will be unveiled next chapter. Trust me, it's not as much of a pointless romantic cliche as it looks like at a glance. And the villain gets properly introduced next chapter, but I didn't want the first chapter to be overloaded with plot elements aside from Tony's problems. This is more about establishing his issues than anything else.

Kindly beta-read by Soap Lady.

**Set before the season one finale, so no need to be afraid of spoilers.**

* * *

_I suppose I'll let this go and find a reason I'll hold onto; I'm so ashamed of defeat. And I'm out of reasons to believe in me, I'm done with trying to get by. I'm so afraid of the love you give me, I don't belong here and I'm not well. I'm so ashamed of the lie I'm living, right on the wrong side of it all…_ - The Gift, by Seether

* * *

What would you do if you knew your days were numbered?

You don't know what the number is, just that it's dwindling and soon death is coming, slowly and painfully. It won't be pretty. It will be excruciatingly painful. And there is no force on Earth that can stop it, no matter what you pay or how hard you try. What do you do?

Tony Stark didn't know what to do, so he did what he always did, putting on a fake smile and a flippant air, a mask that he wore well. He didn't know what to say or who to tell it to. He didn't know how to put into words what was going to happen, what was coming at him like a heat seeking missile, and he didn't try. Everything would be easier for them if he just vanished one day or went down heroically or came up with some kind of miracle cure afterwards. Nobody could know that it was all his fault and he was only in this situation because of his own faulty technology. No one could know that Tony Stark was an idiot, an uppity kid with a bad attitude, a jerk with no real genius to his name. He put on his best oblivious-to-the-world look and set his iPod on shuffle, and walked to school with no intention of ever letting anyone know he was dying.

He was like one of those faulty batteries in a Nintendo DS, the ones that started off great and slowly lost their capacity to be recharged at all. Bit by bit he was losing power faster, and one day he was going to plug in his heart charger and die curled up by the wall. It took so long now to just try to pull himself together, to recover after a fight, and it was only getting worse. He knew that the end was near. Somehow it didn't scare him like it should have. He'd always assumed he'd be afraid of death. Instead, he felt defeated, tired, like he'd just gotten out of the longest fight of his life. He wasn't scared to die. Tony was… frustrated, sort of, angry, pissed off, indignant, sick of things going wrong, tired of every day being a sea of problems and worries he was drowning under while everyone else got to live normal lives. But he wasn't scared.

He had been, for a little over two weeks, working every spare second on fixing the problem. He'd looked at all his research and schematics and tried to figure out what to do next. The arc reactor had never been perfected before the accident. There hadn't been time to think of the ramifications of using what was in essence an untested prototype. Once it was inside him, however, it had become more or less unremovable. Maybe if he knew a surgeon – a very, _very_ good surgeon – and he could correct the flaws in the design, he might have been able to stay alive. There were several holes in this only solution. Firstly, the arc reactor itself had no design flaws; it was failing from him pushing himself too hard and the strain on his heart from all the stress and physical exertion was what had created this problem in the first place. Tony knew, after hours of schematics and virtual reality simulations and theoreticals, that the arc reactor itself simply could not be salvaged. His second biggest error in his thinking was that removing it and putting in a new one, even if were possible, would only buy him six months or so assuming he didn't die on the operating table. Heart surgery had never been a risk free science, after all.

Sometimes he thought he wasn't the genius people thought he was. His father would've figured something out. If only he had access to Stark International and all the scientists there, maybe one of them might be able to salvage the situation. He doubted it, but he'd feel a lot less helpless about everything with an actual doctor to give him some input. He considered flying over to one in Iron Man form and taking money out of one of his stashes for a private consultation. Unfortunately, he knew what the recommendation would be: stop this stressful lifestyle and thus stop needing to recharge so long. That wasn't an option. He had to protect his family, his city, his _world_, and he couldn't just set that aside because he wasn't feeling well. There were people dying out these even as he sat in his lab trying to come up with a solution. Ultimately there was nothing he could do. Helplessness was nothing new to Tony Stark, but that didn't mean he liked it or dealt well with it.

So, his days were numbered. What now, he asked himself. What was he supposed to do now that he knew that he was going to die? Was everything supposed to feel like this? It was like the floor had fallen out from under him and everything he was working towards no longer mattered. He tried to keep himself from thinking of it by working, organizing all his research into the Rings for Gene to continue after he was gone. The Rings were a part of history, a part of Chinese history and therefore Gene's heritage. The other boy deserved a chance to look into it and explore his culture's past, even if Iron Man couldn't be there to fight off the lava monsters anymore. Tony moved all his access codes and IDs that could get him into his private funds of cash in a box for Rhodey. After all his friend had done for him over the years, it seemed a stupid, shallow gift, but he wanted to have something he could give to him, some way of saying Rhodey was important to him. He was like the brother Tony had never had. That was why he couldn't tell him about the arc reactor failing; Tony had never been good at talking about his feelings to people close to him. He kind of wanted, this time. He just didn't know what to say or where to start.

Recharging was taking longer and longer. He felt weak both emotionally and physically, like this was all his own fault. It was hard not to feel hopeless in the face of everything. There was so much he hadn't accomplished, so much he'd never set right, all those mistakes he didn't know how to apologize for. Tony wasn't sure how things fell apart this quickly. One day he'd been managing just fine and the next thing he knew he had a month or less to live depending on his exertion level. How was he supposed to take that? Everything suddenly felt hollow, meaningless, and he rarely felt like he was a person. It was an irrational thought, but he couldn't shake the lingering feeling that this wasn't real, that _he_ wasn't real. This feeling had always been there, in the back of his mind, yet it had never been this overwhelming before. The arc reactor's failure was somehow amplifying all his issues, and he didn't like it. Some times he felt like all he was, was a body to cart around the armor with. Iron Man was worth saving. Tony Stark was secondary. He had to find some way to keep the armor alive and going after he was gone. He had to keep everyone safe. Rhodey, Pepper, Gene, all the people who made life worth living long after everything had gone wrong… Tony wanted them to stay safe. It was too late for him and he'd tried his hardest; now it was time to focus on the things he could do rather than the ones he couldn't. He was irrelevant, falling apart at the seams, barely keeping it together, but Pepper…

He closed his glaucous eyes for a moment, trying to clear his thoughts. No, no, he wasn't going there. It didn't matter who he cared about. Soon he was going to be gone and she could find someone better, someone who wasn't a weak, exhausted, run down husk of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He always ended up getting her hurt or hurting her emotionally. Whatever he wanted, he wasn't right for her and he knew it. Maybe she'd marry Rhodey or Gene. They'd be able to do everything he couldn't; they could care for her completely, where he was always attached to the armor and the job first and foremost. She didn't understand that it was the only thing that made him get out of bed each morning. She didn't want to hear that and she could never understand if she did, because her body was _real_, not metal and nanites and wiring. Pepper would get to grow up, age, have children, live life. Her life was just beginning, and she was a born optimist. His life was over already, and he was never very good at this whole 'maturity' thing, so he really shouldn't think about any of the things that he used to before he realized that his heart's arc reactor was failing. Those doors were closed to him now, no matter what he felt, if he could really be described as feeling love at all. Emotions were confusing. There was no manual to explain it to him, and with Tony Stark, that tended to be a very big drawback indeed. Pepper understood emotions for him. Rhodey explained the social world to him. Without them he wouldn't be here today.

Somehow the thought of never being able to see them again, the uncertainty of what existed after life, was what really hurt him. Tony had never given half a thought to the paranormal. He had never thought about religion, about spirituality, about Heaven or Hell, because it took everything he had to survive day to day. He was sure that his father was in Heaven, somewhere up there where science and technology couldn't reach him, with his mother again at long last. When his mother had died, Tony remembered his father sobbing brokenly for over a week, stumbling through the motions of day to day life. He wondered if that was what was going to happen to his friends when he was gone. He didn't want to hurt them like that, but there was nothing he could do to make this right. Soon they were going to be alone, with each other, several suits of armor and a video diary he'd made late at night when Rhodey was sleeping.

There were sets of armor in the lab for Rhodey and Pepper. If, and only _if_ they wanted it, they could take up this job, save people, be the heroes to the public that they already were in private. He could think of no better people for the jobs. Rhodey's calm, controlled nature would balance out Pepper's hyperactivity and constant need to do things. At the same time, Pepper's energy and drive would be good for Rhodey, push him to be more decisive and active. But if they didn't want the jobs, they were to hand over the suits to SHIELD. For all Tony's issues with Nick Fury and the man's viewpoints on weapons, he was sure that he could find some kind of positive use for the armor, and it was better than Stane getting ahold of it.

He tried to push away his emotions in a sea of work and planning. He tried not to think about death and life and all the things he wouldn't get to do. Inevitably, though, thoughts of Pepper would come back to him. If he were healthy and whole, he would walk up to her one day and hand her a bundle of her favorite flowers (pink alstroemeria blooms; he remembered her mentioning it once in her constant stream of chatter, though she liked white orchids too) and then he'd tell her everything. He'd tell her how she was the only thing that seemed real anymore, that he didn't know what he was feeling, but it was more intense a bond than he'd ever had before. He'd tell her it scared him and yet he still wanted to know what it meant, he wanted to be with her and-

But he couldn't. He couldn't tell her, now, especially. It wouldn't be fair to tell her when he could tell she didn't feel that way for him. Why would she? Why would she ever notice the dying cybernetic man who failed at everything when Gene Khan was nearby? And contrary to popular belief, Tony was not a jealous person. He was glad Gene was there; when the arc reactor failed forever, Gene would be there to keep Pepper safe and happy. She deserved that. She was so full of life, so vivid and incredible. He used to know what it was like to feel like that before he became this inhuman being he was stuck as now. She deserved Gene Khan and everything he could offer her; Gene was cultured, trilingual, he was funny and sharp tongued, everything Tony could never be. Gene was a real person, with a future and potential. He would make her happy in ways Iron Man couldn't. Tony didn't know how to love her. He knew he did, but he didn't know _how_ to do all those things that romantic, cool people did. Gene was better for her. It was better this way, for her and for Gene Khan, if those words remained unspoken. What kind of jerk told a woman he loved her when he had maybe two weeks left to live? That wasn't right, and it wasn't fair.

Tony was tired of making things worse for everyone. What he wanted more than anything was to make up for all his mistakes, make things right for his 'family' – Pepper, Rhodey, Roberta, and Gene. The best way he knew to do that was to protect them. Somehow he thought maybe that might make up for how hard it was to find words for what he felt, that maybe it might be enough in the end. Without them he wouldn't be here. That was why he had to hide the arc reactor's failure from them; the panic and pain would be too much for any of them to bear. He couldn't do that to him after everything they'd done for him.

He could tell that day from the way his chest was pounding that the arc reactor was failing, in half the time it had before, even though it had been recharged last night. Ditching Rhodey in the New York crowds wasn't hard. Neither was the choice when he saw something attacking the poorer part of this part of Manhattan. He was racing towards the area clad in his armor before he was even aware he'd made the decision. Tony Stark's life meant nothing when real people were at stake. Up ahead he heard someone scream for their life and heard a gunshot silence them, and he knew that any amount of pain in his chest was worth this fight. He flew up above, a red and gold blur of motion, and prepared for what he damn well knew could be his final fight. There was something satisfying about the idea of going out helping someone, instead of just sitting there in his room dying slowly. These people needed him. Say what you would about New York, but it was his city and he loved it. Anyone trying to pull this here needed to make hospital reservations beforehand. At least he'd gotten Pepper a parting gift, even if it had been anonymous and rather simplistic. So sue him; crime fighters were never renowned for their romantic charms. He powered up his blasters, feeling cold spikes of pain grow in his chest, and fired. In that moment, for the first time since he'd realized he was dying, he was truly scared for the future as his vision blurred dangerously, white stars of light dancing in his line of sight.

Across town, in her locker, Pepper Potts found a single white orchid tied to a pink and gold alstromeria, and felt her blood run cold.


	2. Shadowman

_Oh here's the sun again. Isn't it appealing to recline, get blinded and to go into the light again? Doesn't it make you sad to see so much love denied, to see nothing but a shadowman inside? Oh, if you're coming down to rescue me, now would be perfect. Please, if you're coming down to rescue me, now would be perfect, please…_ - Shadowman by K's Choice

* * *

Pepper Potts was not stupid.

She knew something was wrong. Tony never did anything sweet and romantic unless he'd messed up and was really, really sorry, and even then if it was romantic it was probably not intentional. They weren't fighting right now. Therefore, he had to be about to do something stupid that needed an apology beforehand, and that meant it was something dangerous. Everything Tony did was dangerous, though, so this was probably catastrophic level stupid. She burst out of the school as fast as she could go, telling this to Rhodey over the phone in between breaths. This wasn't random. Tony Stark wasn't socially aware enough to send flowers ever, let alone just because he felt like it. This wasn't like him.

Rhodey had lost track of him in the crowd. Translation: Tony had made himself scarce. As she dashed down the streets and around startled people, she became aware of the booming sounds up ahead, the clang of metal on asphalt, and it was then that panic really set in. She wasn't oblivious to the limits of the armor. Tony wasn't unstoppable, he just thought that he was. Pepper rounded the last corner just as Tony hit the ground hard, aquamarine energy crackling around him wildly. His screaming was distorted by the helmet, rendering it nearly inhuman. It was a sound that would haunt Pepper long after this night. She rushed forward, pulled out the tazer she'd stolen from her father, and aimed for the source of the bright, shifting lights. The figure shrieked in surprise and stumbled back. Pepper took aim and fired again, grip shaking slightly, though whether from panic or fear, she didn't know.

Why wasn't Tony getting back up?

"Leave, girl!" the glowing figure snarled. "This is between me and the one called Iron Man! You know not what you're doing! I am here to do something far greater than you know!"

Tony still wasn't moving.

Pepper fired again and felt her heart skip a beat when it didn't seem to work anymore. Still, she was too scared to be afraid; she was too worried about Tony to leave just because someone who was made of light was yelling at her. Rhodey appeared behind her, out of breath and worried. He caught her line of sight and froze. They shared a look, seal brown and clay gray holding for a split second. And then they bolted forward, in opposite directions, headed for cover that brought them closer to their fallen friend. Flashes of light and the smell of smoke erupted behind them, but Pepper didn't dare look back for fear of slowing. She ducked behind a building, eyes drawn to Tony's still prone form. _Please, God, please just let him get up. I'll do anything, just, please…_

Tony stirred. The glowing figure turned its blasters towards the still prone form, and Pepper snapped, rushing forward, flicking the tazer up to its max setting, and aiming for the head. There was a shriek as it rounded on her, swiping at her with a blast of white light that seared at her arms. She screamed, but the distraction was done. Tony fired his chest cannon's beam off, and the figure fell forward, staggering before rushing off with a noticeable limp. Rhodey stared, torn between a now burned Pepper and a Tony that could barely stand. After a moment Tony yanked off his helmet, gasping for air as he fell to the ground. His arc reactor was fainter than Rhodey remembered. He gasped out some kind of command and, in a flash of golden light, vanished. Pepper's brow furrowed.

"Experimental teleporter," Rhodey said by way of explanation. "This isn't good. He must be in serious trouble if he couldn't stop to tell us what happened. Now sit down. I'm calling you an ambulance. That arm doesn't look too good."

The redhead looked down. Her right arm was now sporting a chunk of burnt red skin, about the length of a finger and the width of a quarter. The tazer had been dropped and was now a puddle of plastic, smoldering goo. She wondered briefly what that would feel like if she hadn't moved and that had been her head. Dazedly, Pepper held up her arm and watched the blood drip off of it. It didn't hurt. That was the part that scared her. But she wasn't dying. Tony was. Tony looked like it. He had never been so pale in his life. He hadn't moved for a full minute. He was either dying or hurt so bad he looked it. She had to get to him before he did something stupid like try to fight that guy again. She didn't notice the spots dancing in front of her vision.

Rhodey caught her before she hit the ground, and felt the onset, then, of true panic.

* * *

She woke up in the hospital and immediately began to swear loudly.

"Rhodey: will kill 4 this. Hospitals suck. How's Tony?" she texted, and then stood up. The world was awash in little white dots for several moments, but then it was clear again. She was in an emergency room, separated from the world by a curtain. Her phone beeped at her quietly, telling her there was a response.

"Tony won't wake up. Need 2 get him 2 a SHIELD doctor."

She winced a little at that. Tony's arc reactor was too complicated for anyone else to handle. If it had been damaged in that fight he'd need the best doctors in the world. The problem was that going to SHIELD would necessitate telling them his secret identity. Once they had that, who knew what would happen? Nick Fury was a strange and ruthless man, just as much a jerk as a brave hero. Pepper didn't trust him with this. But if it was a choice between Tony's life and his secret identity, then she didn't have a choice at all. She couldn't live with herself if Tony died just because of his stupid pride. No matter what his reasons were for wanting to avoid SHIELD, he needed them.

It was time to implement a plan. The plan Pepper had basically boiled down to 'better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission'. "Tell Tony I'm sorry okay?" she wrote hurriedly. Then she put her phone in her pocket and pulled open the curtain, listening for her father's voice. True to his worried overprotective self, he was there, talking to one of the doctors about her injuries. The fiery redhead took a moment to inhale sharply and steel herself for what she was about to do; the fact that her head was spinning wasn't making this any easier. Focusing her vision and breathing slowly, she closed the curtain and dialed by memory a number she hadn't called in forever.

"Patricia?" The phone was picked up midway through the first ring. "What's happening? Your father told me you were hurt and offered no details. Is it critical?"

"Mom, I'm… I'm gonna be okay. Just burned. But there's something I need to tell you." Her voice was shaking. "I need you to listen and just hear me out, okay? It's really important. SHIELD-relevant. And definitely a code red situation."

There was a pause. Pepper had only called her mother for emergencies four times in her life, and they were usually pretty bad. Three of those calls were now classified information. There was a _reason_ Pepper had to change schools periodically. Her father might've thought she was an over enthusiastic pain, but Lexine Potts never failed to take her daughter seriously. Pepper heard her grab for a pen and paper before telling someone she outranked them and could talk to whoever she damn well pleased. Pepper smiled weakly. Her mother was everything Pepper had ever wanted to be. She was so high up in SHIELD that she took missions from Nick Fury himself and had visited over twenty countries in her work. She had a jetpack and knew French. There was nothing that Lexine couldn't handle, no problem she couldn't solve. Hopefully that would continue to hold true.

"Okay, Pep, go ahead. I'm listening."

Deep breath. Now was not the time to blurt everything out. "Okay so I know this is something I _really_ should've told you before but I'm friends with Iron Man and he's really cool and he's waa_ay_ younger than your SHIELD profilers said and – well, he's hurt really bad. And I think he might die if he doesn't get someone who really knows about technology to treat him and I just didn't know who else to call." _Deep breaths,_ she scolded herself, _slow it down to reasonable levels_. "I don't want him to die! I know he doesn't want SHIELD to be involved with him because you guys are all suspicious and he thinks you're paranoid trigger happy lunatics – no offense Mom – but I don't want him to die. Please please _please_ just get somebody to New York to pick him up before it's too late!"

Her father pulled back the curtain to her bed, his brow furrowed. "Did you just say you know _Iron Man_?"

"Dad, busy. Talk later, okay?" She waved him off. Her mother was talking to someone in the background, their voices too muffled to make out clearly. After a moment someone gave her an affirmative.

"We're on our way. Can you give me an exact address and the legal name of Iron Man?" Her mother's voice was authoritative, but softer than it would be if she was talking to anyone else. Pepper shut her eyes and pictured her mother miles away and above on the SHIELD Helicarrier, her kind hazel eyes and unruly flame colored hair, and she could breathe again.

"The address I gave you for Rhodey's house. Mom, Iron Man… he's Tony Stark." _Oh God, he's going to kill me for this. I should just start apologizing _now_, honestly._

"Understood." Typical SHIELD agent, used to the weird and unfathomable. "We can get an emergency response team there in twelve minutes. Call the Rhodes and have them get Stark ready for pick up."

"Right. Right. I got it. I can do that." Pepper nodded despite the fact that her mother couldn't see her. "ETA confirmed, me en route, Rhodes at the ready. I can handle this."

There was a pause. Someone was telling Lexine to hang up because they had to go. Code white. That was three levels above red, the kind of thing that threatened national security. But she paused regardless to say, "Pepper, it's alright. He's going to make it, I promise." And then she hung up.

Lexine Potts had never lied to her daughter before.

* * *

Pain, there was pain crashing through him like a sea, the waves rolling back and returning regularly.

Light and sky, blue too bright to comprehend. Voices whispering, shouting, debating, pleading, commanding. Up above there was Rhodey, his brother in all but blood, his firm voice telling them it was fine, it was fine, take him. Somewhere a woman was objecting. He was standing only because he was being lifted, and no one noticed he was awake until Rhodey's dark, obsidian brown eyes met his. He'd never seen Rhodey look so somber and serious, and for Rhodey, that was saying something. Tony wanted to joke, to tell him it was all okay, to laugh, but the pain was rolling through so regularly all he could do was fight off the darkness at the corners of his vision.

"It'll be okay Tony, I promise. You're going to be fine." Rhodey vanished, replaced with blue again as someone pushed him onto his back, onto a stretcher. "It's not gonna end like this, man. I promise."

The blue was endless until it was replaced by gray ceilings and bright fluorescent lights. Someone was saying something about having the armor already loaded. Someone else was saying his blood pressure was too low. A needle was going into his arm, an IV of some kind, as his shirt was cut off him. Hands were on his like phantoms on him, lingering not a second longer than needed, professional and clinical, detached, inhuman. He saw figures pass in and out of the lights. He could hear them. He could feel them. What he couldn't do was work up the strength to scream, or cry, or joke, or even swear. In the haze, he realized what the dull crash, recession and return of pain was.

It was his heartbeat.

And it was slowing down.

* * *

Nick Fury was rarely surprised.

But this one, he had to admit, really was a riddle for the ages. How the hell did a scrawny genius ditz like Stark manage to hide everything like this? They had the wrong profile entirely. He was no man with an engineering background, he was a kid with a genius IQ. They'd suspected personal tragedy as with every superhero, and that was about the only accurate thing they'd guessed when it came to Iron Man. He was really just a boy playing dress up. Fury wasn't sure whether to be angry, amazed or just pity the kid. He had no idea what he was getting into when he decided to do this. Stark's status was to be called in to Fury every five and a half minutes. This was no routine emergency medical pick up, if there _was_ such a thing as a routine one. This could easily be the public relations disaster of the century if the world found out SHIELD had been outdone by someone who wasn't even out of high school. The brunette didn't even look like he was old enough to shave yet. Fury rubbed his forehead and sighed. Lexine had warned him that joking about things being boring was tempting fate. He didn't want to admit it that she'd been completely right.

"Lexi, where are you?" he snapped into his SHIELD communicator. "This is your little freakshow, you oughta be here to see it."

"Horrorshow, my droog, horrorshow," she shot back dryly. "And if you don't get that literary reference, it's official: you're coming with me to the Helicarrier's stupid little movie night thing. Also, I'm in the elevators as we speak, so no complaining."

Admittedly, he'd expected her to still be finishing up paperwork in the white level department. "Good work. Now, how much can you tell me about this situation?"

"Not much more than you got from the prelim reports, Nick. Unusual energy signatures all over the place down there, like something twice as powerful as a generator condensed, and lightwave burns everywhere. I had the lab double check your theory on mutants. There's no match. Their powers can't get anywhere near that level." There was a ding as the elevator doors opened. "We found video footage, and according to my eyewitnesses the thing glowed like that in person, too, so no physical description beyond 'bright and white'. My daughter hit the thing with a tazer and it distracted it enough that they could extract Stark from the scene."

"Your daughter sounds like she takes after her mother. Should I be worried about my job security?"

"My God, Nick, you made a _joke_. I think I can feel the sky falling." She chuckled briefly, then her tone went abruptly serious. "We have a bigger problem than the attack in New York. Stark's heart is failing. If we lose him we'll be buried up to our necks in deep shit. I don't even want to think of the fallout from the public, let alone from the unregistered superhero community. I'll keep you updated, but we're running out of time. I can play guard girl for you but what we need are cardiologists, cybernetics specialists, physicists, and we need them to all be able to comprehend what the others are saying."

"So basically," Nick sighed, "We need Tony Stark."

"That's about the size of it, yeah. I'll keep you updated. Just keep an eye on NYC for me. My family's there and if they're hurt I'm going to exercise my license to kill immediately."

"You do know I can have you fired for that, right?"

"Know. Don't care," she retorted flippantly. "Call you in five."

No man dared hang up on Nick Fury, for his wrath was mighty and his disdain neverending.

But women were a different story.

* * *

In the waiting room adjoined to the medical bay, Pepper Potts was sitting perfectly still and staring out the window.

"I didn't hand Tony over so you could imprison him," she said sharply, voice perfectly controlled for once. "If that's why you brought me onboard you may as well drop me off right here."

"Miss Potts-" the Agent began, only to be cut off by her once more.

"It's Pepper. Not Miss Potts or Miss Patricia. What's your name? Your first one, I mean." She was still avoiding looking at him, watching the fields roll by underneath the Helicarrier's windows.

"I'm Jamie," he replied, looking confused. "What does that have to do with-"

"You love Agent Skylardattir. My mom told me you took a bullet for her. You think Yrsa is worth more than anything else, even SHIELD regulation. So imagine it's her on that table and someone is telling you they want access to everything she's ever tried to keep private. They're going to tear it apart, Jamie, look for devils behind every rock, and then they're going to find an accuse to arrest her and keep her miles away from everyone that loves her. The only thing keeping the person you love from being thrown in jail is you. The bullet's coming at her, Jamie. You have ten seconds." She turned to face him. "What do you do?"

"This isn't the same thing, though I will note in my report that you're in love with Tony Stark."

She turned back to her window, cheeks flushed. "I didn't say that. I implied I care about him. That's totally different."

"…Sure, kid, whatever you say." Jamie sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Just give us the damn codes. If he has any enemies or possible attackers we're not aware of, it'll be in his journals."

"And if he has anything SHIELD can use to lock him up, it'll be in there. I know from my mother that there's not exactly a pleasant sentiment towards superheroes up here right now." The redhead looked distant, watching the world go by. "What do you have against them wanting to be free? What did they ever do to betray the public's trust?"

"I'm not getting into a philosophy debate. I never win those, ever." Jamie ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "But if you and Rhodes refuse to crack, pretty soon you won't be dealing with theoretical. You'll be staring down a very real, very angry General Fury, and you can't talk yourself out of that."

Pepper looked at him, unimpressed. "Jamie, my mom does that like five times a week. Just get out of here and tell him my answer is 'no and screw you and everyone in your house'. Geez, this place is stupid. Like I'd really just tell you how to get to my best friend? You guys suck at being anti-heroes. The least you could do is give me a bribe to refuse like a proper villainous organization. Hey, tell Fury to Google up the Evil Overlord List and then call me, 'kay?"

Jamie couldn't tell which parts of that babble were sarcasm and which were honesty veiled in annoyance, so he simply turned and left, shooting her a look of mixed admiration and dread over his shoulder.

In the next room over, Tony's arc reactor stalled.


	3. We Are

**Author's Notes:** I hate Montana Tech. It's a college where people can poop in the halls, vomit on the stairs, leave broken glass in the showers and even though we all know who did it, no one ever gets punished. If my internet doesn't get fixed there soon I will snap. Writing on the weekends is not relaxing enough to keep my sanity in tact. But at least you all know why I don't update my crap very often now.

Anyway, my ranting aside, this chapter is my attempt at having lengthy exchanges of dialogue instead of paragraphs of text without any verbal interaction. It also introduces a slew of supporting characters so that Tony won't get his ass handed to him right away. You'll note I said right away, because things are bound to go wrong immediately next chapter. Also, Pepper gets a really badass scene next chapter, but it's really much longer than I thought it would be, so tacking it onto this one wouldn't have worked well. It'll be there next time, though.

Also, if I did a Iron Man: Armored Adventures/Harry Potter crossover, would anyone be interested in reading it? /random thought

_

* * *

What about the world today? What about the place that we call home? We've never been so many, and we've never been so alone. You keep watching from your picket fence, you keep talking but it makes no sense, you say we're not responsible but we are, we are, we are._ - We Are by Ana Johnson

* * *

"Tony? Tony, please listen to me."

"...Dad? Where am I? Why can't I see anything?"

"I'd give you answers, but they're unsatisfying and unscientific, and we both know how short your attention span is for those kinds of things."

"I just... it's good to hear your voice. I missed you. Dad..."

Howard sighed. "I know, Tony. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of time. I have to get a message to you, before you wake up."

"I'm dreaming? Wait, didn't I just die?" Tony asked, puzzled by the logistics of this.

"Kind of. Look, Tony, I wish I could sit here and tell you how much I love you, how much you mean to me, and how proud your mother and I are, but... you need to know something about the evil you're facing, the forces attacking the city."

"The glowing guy? Dad, he's untouchable. My sensors got heatwaves that were off the chart from him, without even taking into account the voltage. I can't fight him. I know you always told me how I could do anything if I put my mind to it, but I... I couldn't even keep Pepper safe..."

"You love her, don't you, son?" Howard's voice was gentle.

"I don't want to. Everyone I love dies. Everyone I love is dead because I haven't been good enough, or smart enough, and I fail them all. And now, here we are again. Second verse, same as the first. I'm lost. I've _lost!_"

"No, you haven't! So long as you're not dead the battle is never over-"

"Newsflash, Dad, you're talking to me." Tony was glad his sarcasm and snark remained in tact. "Pretty sure that means I'm dead."

"Tony, now is not the time for this. You need to know why this man has attacked you. I have some information for you. I can't tell you everything, but I can help. I can tell you this much: he's here because he's afraid of you. He's afraid of what you're going to do in the future. The heroes of the future are only going to multiply with time. There will come a day when real peace reigns on Earth. His job is to prevent that or die trying."

"...Dad, I don't know how to fight him. My heart's failing. I've been up to my neck in crisis after crisis every day this year. I can't do this. It's not that I don't want to, I really just don't think I _can_. I'm lost. I don't understand what I'm supposed to do."

"Don't you understand, Tony? You're not meant to go this alone. None of you are. There are a thousand heroes in New York City, all working towards a better future. They're from every walk of life, every corner of the globe, every color, and all they want is to see the same goal achieved. A long time ago Nick Fury had a project going to unite them for that very reason, but it fell apart under the tyrannical rules and standards it enforced. It wasn't about a united front, it was about Nick's desire for control."

"Project Snowdrop."

"I left the files where you could find them for a reason. And now your own version of it, that dirty little secret you call the Heroes Network, has to actually see some real usage. You have to go beyond talking to these people online under assumed names and in secret, and come together in person against this greater evil. I can't tell you what this evil is, truly is, because you aren't ready. There are forces greater than you know trying to destroy the right order of things. If you knew what you were getting into, you might turn your back on the world of the living and just lay down and die. But I'm not asking you to do this because it's easy. I'm asking you to do this because it's right."

"Dad, I don't know what to say... I really don't think I'm equipped to lead this thing. I'm telling you right now Rhodey is totally ending up with that job. But I can start it. I can lead the charge. I didn't put on the suit this morning to have fun. I understand what you're saying. I... I won't let you down."

"That's my boy." Howard's voice began to grow faint. "I love you, Tony..."

* * *

Tony's heart was beating.

The arc reactor's power cells were being replaced as a crude prototype kept his blood pumping. His chest was open, a mess of blood and metal and wires, the new device already coated in red. It hurt, and it didn't feel quite right, but he was alive. He should have been dead. He _had_ been dead. Storm blue eyes fluttered open. The pain was unbearable. Pain killers were forbidden due to the blood thinning they could cause. He looked up into the bright SHIELD issue lights, heard without comprehending the voices around him, and felt without really knowing why a sense of new determination inside him. A fire had been lit somewhere deep down inside his heart.

"Pe... Pepper?" he asked dazedly. "Where's Pepper?"

"Tony!"

He managed a smile. Somehow, that higher pitch she used when she was worried never failed to make some part of him feel reassured. No matter what mistakes he'd made, she cared. She and Rhodey, for reasons beyond his comprehension, cared. Rhodey, at least, was a case of habitual friendship. Pepper didn't even have that excuse. She was just crazy. He made a mental note to put both her and her future children through college once he got Stark International under his rule. She was framed by the lights as she looked down at him, her hair glowing like a sunset colored halo.

"Pepper, I need a favor." Every word was a battle, each one struggling to leave his lips. "My access codes. Did you give them out?"

"No. No way! Rhodey would kill me, and I knew you didn't want-"

He cut her off quickly. "But you know them, right?"

"Well, yes-"

"Then, go. Go to the lab, there's something you need to see." He sucked in a deep breath as pain rolled over him. "I can't tell you which one it is. You'll just have to know it when you see it. And act on it. You can do that, right?"

"Tony, I don't want to leave you with SHIELD like this-"

"You have to. Pepper, please. I need you to do this for me. This isn't about us anymore. New York's in real danger. Please. If you love me, you'll leave." He had no idea where that last part came from. It seemed to do the trick, though, as she nodded solemnly.

"Okay. I... I'll see you later, Tony." And she pecked him on the cheek and before anyone could yell at her about germs she was gone.

She had a mission now, and God help anyone who got in her way.

* * *

**HN Chat Member: IronGirl, now online.**

**Ulloriaq: **Anyway, guys, I wish I wasn't alone up here. New Yorkers are so lucky... I've gotten everything under control now, but now my family knows I'm Ulloriaq. I'm dead when I get home. When we rebuild our home, that is.

**MidoriSentai:** I wish we could offer more assistance, but at this point we can't even offer advice. We're the only ones in our Prefecture so the last few weeks have strained us to the breaking point. Kuro's even talking about leaving the main team to help get things down in the southern part of the country under control.

**Etoile:** Hey, who's the new girl?

**IronGirl: **Not exactly new. Long story. Figured this was the easiest way to access the active members instead of just sending out spam messages to everyone. We need help in NYC ASAP!

**SupremeSkyGirl:** Oh, so it's an average Monday, then.

**IronGirl:** Genocide is not funny and you are a pathetic excuse for a hero for having that reaction.

**IronGirl:** I know villains who would be more concerned and helpful. I bet Iron man let you join out of pity. Any other day I would just get mad but as I lack the time to chew you out I'll instead suggest you go play _City Of Heroes_ and leave the REAL crime fighting to the big girls.

**IronGirl:** I am so not in the mood for this today. Why did Iron Man even think this would help?

**Etoile:** ...you just typed all that in twelve seconds.

**KuroSentai: **Sky Girl just got BURNED, and Infernei's not even in the room!

**HC Member: Infernei, now online.**

**OrenjiEnzeru: **Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

**Ulloriaq****: **Grow up. We've already got Sky Girl here, we don't need any more childish behavior.

**OrenjiEnzeru: **Lol, nice.

**Infernei: **I came here to request back up for New York, but I can see Iron Girl is already aware of the situation. So far the amount of causalities has been kept down but with such blatant attacks on large population centers that will not be possible for long. I estimate the death toll will be in the hundreds if not thousands if we don't get help soon.

**Etoile:** Doesn't New York have their own fleet of heroes? Not that I'm saying I don't care. I just don't understand.

**IronGirl:** It's the stupid Registration Act in the US. Nobody wants to risk SHIELD unmasking them or the police arresting them or any kind of consequence so they'll sit their and play their stupid Nintendo DSi's while New York burns.

**IronGirl:** Then they sit around and high five each other and call themselves rebels for being so edgy and resisting the police. And some of them patrol at night in tiny little corners of the city and then act like they've saved the freaking planet. But nobody's going to actually do anything in broad daylight. It's about glory not saving people and that's why we're here.

**IronGirl:** Infernei, where are you anyways?

**Etoile:** No, seriously, that was twenty three seconds of typing. How is that possible?

**OrangeEnzeru: **And there's no typos. That's the creepy thing.

**Infernei:** In Madison Square currently. Neutralized the threat with flash bombs and electrocution.

**SupremeSkyGirl:** You're such a total psycho. I can't believe you murdered someone, even if he was a villain!

**Infernei: **It didn't even knock him unconscious, actually.

**Ulloriaq****:** What? Well, that tears it. I'm getting down there in two hours tops. That's the fastest I can make it. I'm not a US citizen so the Registration Act can kiss my ass. Everything's under control here. I'm on my way.

**KuroSentai:** How are you going to get from Greenland to New York City...?

**Ulloriaq: **I have a way to catch the next flight on Air Greenland. Assuming the crisis doesn't disrupt flights, that is.

**SupremeSkyGirl:** I can't make it. I can't fly across the country when the West Coast needs me. I'm going to be pulling strings like crazy just to get to San Francisco.

**Etoile:** I can't get to NYC from Paris right now. There's a real crisis going on downtown and my whole team's busy. I'm en route myself. I'm really sorry. I think the same kind of attacks are happening here on a smaller scale. We can't divert any resources right now.

**MidoriSentai:** The same's more or less true in Tokyo. I'm on my way as we speak, but it's really bad here. I don't even know how we're going to get through this thing.

**Kestuban:** I can get to New York. You handle Tokyo.

**MidoriSentai:** Huh? Aren't you in Ishinomaka? How can you get to New York?

**Kestuban:** I didn't say it'd be easy. But I'll take care of it. Just go do your thing.

**Ulloriaq****:** Well, see you all when I see you, then.

**HC Member: Ketsuban, now offline.**

**HC Member: ****Ulloriaq****, now offline.**

**HC Member: MidoriSentai, now offline.**

**HC Member: OrangeEnzeru, now offline.  
**

**HC Member: Pozar, now online.**

**Pozar: **Speed read the conversation. My English is limited but my friend can teleport us. If Iron Man's wife allows, we will join immediately.

**IronGirl: **Sure.

**IronGirl:** I mean I'm not his wife!

**Infernei:** A hero's a hero. Language barrier or not, these things aren't human and they're spreading rapidly. We need you. I'll see who I can round up in person. I'll see you all in combat. Out.

**HC Member: Infernei, now offline.**

**HC Member: Pozar, now offline.**

**Etoile: **...I suppose we could spare Benji. But he's kind of crazy.

**IronGirl:** Nobody's playing with a full deck here. You don't become a hero because you're well adjusted. I just want us to get through this week without the apocalypse happening.

**Etoile:** Benji will help. I just want to say in advance that I'm sorry we can't do more. God bless and good luck.

**IronGirl: **Good. Sky Girl, you stay online and recruit people to the disaster zone in NYC and see who you can get to cover the others in their own areas. I have to get downtown now before the evil blobs of light kill us all and yes I'm aware of how strange that sounded.

**SupremeSkyGirl: **Why do I have to do the grunt work?

**IronGirl:** Two reasons: you're in Nevada so you can't come, and if you don't I'm booting you out. I have that authority now, you know.

**SupremeSkyGirl: **Because you're Iron Man's wife?

**IronGirl:** ...yes.

**HC Member: IronGirl, now offline.**

**

* * *

**Nick Fury wasn't just angry, he was currently in that deadly state of mind where anger becomes so intense it produces a frightening calm.

Tony Stark was coordinating some kind of counter attack to the world wide attacks by... whatever the hell this was. Fury didn't know what to make of the read outs his agents were calling in, energy signatures and heat readings so high they were breaking equipment outright. So far the only successful destruction of these beings was one report from Greenland, called in by an agent who had witnessed it first hand. He'd ordered a team sent to retrieve the body immediately. Then he'd turned to his aides, barked out a litany of orders, and gone down to visit the surviving Stark himself, looking at him through new eyes. So this was the man trying to save the world.

God help them all.

Right now the brunette was fluttering in and out of consciousness. His dark blue eyes were unfocused until he was spoken to directly. His skin was pale white, and a layer of cold sweat coated his body. It was in this condition that he was managing to overthrow SHIELD's authority, ignore all their regulations and usurp the Regulation and Anti-Vigilante Acts. If he survived this Fury would either give him a medal or shoot him. Unfortunately, the if in that sentence was a big if. Tony's body was fighting off what it perceived as a foreign object, the very prototype they'd desperately cobbled together to keep him alive. His old arc reactor was being studied and reverse engineered as they spoke.

It was a fight against time, and Tony was losing. His breathing was shallow, his fingers twitching almost involuntarily, and Nick tried not to think of Howard. He'd been in this position before, with Howard on that table, a gunshot wound in his shoulder as he rambled incoherently about Maria. Nick Fury's dark bistre colored eyes flickered to the next operating table over. Maria Stark had died there. Howard had single handedly saved SHIELD from collapse, had kept Nick together through some of the darkest years of his life, and now his son's life was in Nick's hands. And Fury was well aware of the hypocrisy of telling agents to be detached when he'd always had a connection to the Stark family. He was aware of his choices, his options being various degrees of doomed, failure and loss.

"Tony?" Fury asked loudly. The boy's eyes twitched and his eyebrows knit together as if he was trying to focus. "Tony, it's me. Nick Fury. I worked with your dad."

"The SHIELD dude. Right. I remember." Tony smiled weakly. "How much trouble am I in right now?"

"Enough. Look, I can't yell at a man with his chest split open. Firstly it would go against my moral principles, and secondly Agent Potts would kick my ass, so I'm just going to be blunt: we need access to your lab and everything in it." Fury gave him his best 'I am not kidding, this is dead serious' glare.

"Go to hell," Tony replied serenely, his voice even and level. "All you need to know is that I have less of an idea of what's going on than SHIELD does - I got some of my sensors blown out by that guy."

"What was that little mission you sent Pepper Potts on, Stark? You wanna talk to me about that?" Fury pressed on, angrily. "You wanna tell me what's got heroes swapping out positions all over the damn place?"

"Oh, you noticed already? Good. Then Pepper's done her job and should be home in time for _Attack Of The Show_."

Fury's fists clenched so tightly the knuckles paled. "Don't get smart with me. I'm in the middle of an all out, full scale crisis on three continents and you're orchestrating some kind of response I know nothing about."

"It'll be okay, Nick." And Tony must have been delusional with bloodloss, because he never called SHIELD Director Fury anything so friendly and informal. He smiled, eyes fighting not to go out of focus. "It'll be alright now. This won't be like what happened to Oqitsoq. I promise."

In that second everything about Fury changed. His whole body tensed like a coil ready to burst, and his expression went from guarded and angry to pure disbelief. For a moment there was something vulnerable and raw in his eyes, in his expression. "Where did you hear that name? Who told you about...?"

But Tony was already out like a light.


End file.
